Human use pharmaceuticals in the estuarine environment: a survey of the Chesapeake Bay, Biscayne Bay, and Gulf of the Farallones

The assessment of emerging risks in the aquatic environment is a major concern and focus of environmental science (Daughton and Ternes, 1999). One significant class of chemicals that has received relatively little attention until recently are the human use pharmaceuticals. In 2004, an estimated 2.6 billion prescriptions were written for the top 300 pharmaceuticals in the U.S. (RxList, 2005). Mellon et al. (2001) estimated that 1.4 million kg of antimicrobials are used in human medicine every year. The use of pharmaceuticals is also estimated to be on par with agrochemicals (Daughton and Ternes, 1999). Unlike agrochemicals (e.g., pesticides) which tend to be delivered to the environment in seasonal pulses, pharmaceuticals are continuously released through the use/excretion and disposal of these chemicals, which may produce the same exposure potential as truly persistent pollutants. Human use pharmaceuticals can enter the aquatic environment through a number of pathways, although the main one is thought to be via ingestion and subsequent excretion by humans (Thomas and Hilton, 2004). Unused pharmaceuticals are typically flushed down the drain or wind up in landfills (Jones et al. 2001).

Vertical and horizontal movements of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) in the Great Australian Bight observed with ultrasonic telemetry

The vertical and horizontal movements of southern bluefin tuna (SBT), Thunnus maccoyii, in the Great Australian Bight were investigated by ultrasonic telemetry. Between 1992 and 1994, sixteen tuna were tracked for up to 49 h with depth or combined temperature-depth transmitting tags. The average swimming speeds (measured over the ground) over entire tracks ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 m/s or 0.5 to 1.4 body lengths/s. The highest sustained swimming speed recorded was 2.5 m/s for 18 hours. Horizontal movements were often associated with topographical features such as lumps, reefs, islands and the shelf break. They spent long periods of time at the surface during the day (nearly 30%), which would facilitate abundance estimation by aerial survey. At night, they tended to remain just below the surface, but many remained in the upper 10 m throughout the night. SBT were often observed at the thermocline interface or at the surface while travelling. A characteristic feature of many tracks was sudden dives before dawn and after sunset during twilight, followed by a gradual return to their original depth. It is suggested that this is a behavior evolved to locate the scattering layer and its associated prey when SBT are in waters of sufficient depth. SBT maintained a difference between stomach and ambient temperature of up to 9°C.

Marine pollution in the Indian Ocean: problems, prospects and perspectives

Following a brief outline of the physiography of the Indian Ocean, an examination is made of the current situation regarding contamination of the environment. Prominent marine pollutants and the consequences of the marine disposal are discussed, considering in particular oil pollution, heavy metal pollution, agricultural wastes and domestic wastes. Research activities conducted in the area investigating the levels of marine pollution are detailed, and an evaluation made of future prospects concerning the monitoring and control of pollution.

Role of transglutaminase-mediated cross-linking of protein in the temperature-dependent setting of Alaska pollack surimi

During the low temperature setting of fish paste, myosin heavy chain (MHC) is polymerized to cross-linked myosin heavy chain (CMHC), which is considered to occur by the action of endogenous transglutaminase (TGase). In this study the contribution of TGase on the setting of Alaska pollack surimi at different temperatures was studied. Alaska pollack surimi was ground with 3% NaCl, 30% h2o and with or without ethylene glycol bis (β-aminoethylether) N, N, N¹,N¹- tetra acetic acid (EGTA), an inhibitor of TGase. Among the pastes without EGTA, highest TGase activity was observed at 25°C but breaking force of the gel set at 25°C was lower than that set at 30°, 35°, and 40°C. Addition of EGTA (5m mol/kg) to the paste suppressed TGase activity at all setting temperatures from 20° to 40°C. Gelation of the pastes and cross-linking of MHC on addition of EGTA were suppressed completely at 20° and 25°C, partially at 30° and 35°C, and not at all at 40°C. The findings suggested that during the setting of Alaska pollack surimi TGase mediated cross-linking of MHC was strong at around 25°C but the thermal aggregation of MHC by non-covalent bonds was strong at above 35°C. Setting of surimi at 40°C and cross-linking of its MHC did not involve TGase.

A case study on the impact of industrial effluent disposal on the fishery of Amba River estuary, Maharashtra

The impact of waste discharge on fishery resources is a matter of great concern. The accepted norm in all environmental impact assessment studies is to avoid areas of high fishery potential while locating a marine outfall. Contemplating on this aspect a case study was conducted in the Amba River estuary before and after the establishment of a petrochemical complex at Nagothane. The treated wastewater from this complex is released through a subsurface outfall after adopting effective control measures for marine disposal of waste. Experimental trawling was done at five locations covering a distance of 30 km during 1990 to 1991. The catch rate within the estuary varied from 0.6 to 255 kg/h (av 24 kg/h). The trend indicated considerable decrease in fishery potential from the mouth of the estuary (av 64 kg/h) to the upstream location (av 11 kg/h). A total of 49 species of fishes, 16 species of prawns, 7 species of crabs and 1 species of lobster were identified from the collections. Number of species gradually increased from the interior segment at Dharamtar (8) to the outer area near Revas (18). A comparison of the quantitative and qualitative nature of the post outfall and pre outfall data revealed only marginal difference. The study indicates that if necessary precautions are taken to render the waste harmless the marine ecology will hardly be affected.

Geotechnical observations of construction OF A large shallow SCL tunnel in soft ground

The Fort Canning Tunnel is the first road tunnel in Singapore to be built using the sprayed concrete lining (SCL) method. The major technical challenge of this was to construct a 15m wide tunnel by mining in soft ground under a shallow overburden of 3m to 9m. This paper describes the geotechnical investigations and monitoring controls for the safe and progressive execution of the works, such as soil investigations, trial forepoling works, surface settlement monitoring, tunnel settlement monitoring, face movement monitoring, and the observational approach to construction. The monitored field data showed the volume loss to range from 0.4% to 2.1%, and the observed surface settlement trough was found to agree well with the theoretical Gaussian trough. Other observations made include substantial surface settlements induced by the stress relief at and ahead of the tunnel face in spite of the forepoling umbrella, and the higher volume losses associated with higher overburden. Tunnel face movements were observed during installation of forepoling. These observations are of interest to engineers planning future SCL tunnels in similar conditions.

Results of drift card experiments and considerations on the movement of milkfish eggs and larvae in the northern Sulu Sea

For a period of one year beginning December 1977, drift card experiments were conducted off the western and southern coasts of Panay Island to determine the surface currents in the area. Of a total 2,384 drift cards released during the study, 382 (16.02%) were recovered, 92% of them within 30 days following dispatch. The surface currents in the study area are strongly influenced, in direction and speed, by the prevailing monsoon winds. During the NE monsoon period, the surface currents move away from the coast; during the SW monsoon, toward and/or parallel to the coast. Based on the results, the probable movement and transport of milkfish (Chanos chanos) eggs and larvae from the spawning ground to the fry collection ground are also discussed.

Investigation on water quality in the Ashulia beel, Dhaka

The study was conducted to get an idea about the water quality of the Ashulia beel, and its temporal change over wet and dry seasons due to change of the physicochemical parameters. The water body has become a dumping ground of all kinds of solid, liquid and chemical wastes of bank side population and industries. Encroachment and illegal dredging has become a serious threat for the sound environment of the beel. The water parameters of pH 7.1-7.8 and alkalinity 30-63 mg/l in wet, and pH 7.1-8.4 and alkalinity 90-115 mg/l in dry season, respectively, which were within the standard range of DoE investigation. During wet season, EC 130-310 mg/l, TDS 80-132 mg/l, DO 1.1-2.1 mg/l and BOD -4.4-1.6 mg/l were measured. In dry season, EC 341-442 mg/l, TDS 207-276 mg/l, DO 0.5-2.0 mg/l and BOD 1.0-3.0 mg/l were measured. The comparative analysis showed that most of the water quality parameters of the Ashulia beel were suitable for aquatic organisms including fishes while the DO contents were much lower than the desirable level which may not be suitable for fishes.

Biological characteristics and determination of population dynamic parameters of Sphyraena jello in the coastal waters of Province Bushehr- Persian Gulf

Sphyraena jello, Pick handle Barracuda, is amongst the highly valuable and main commercial fisheries resources in the southern waters of Iran. Given such an economically significant position, this study, being conducted in 2006-2007, attempts to investigate its biological habit and characteristics in Iran’s water of the Persian Gulf. For the sampling purpose, three major landings namely Bushehr, Deylam and Genaveh were selected to obtain samples from commercial catches. The sampling is composed of 655 males and 515 females during a twelve month period. By studying the feeding through the counting method, it is revealed that, Liza subviridis characterized by %42.8 and Sepia pharaonis by %8.4 made the highest and lowest stomach content respectively. The findings showed that male fish in smaller size will mature sooner than females’ specimen but this gender ratio or proportion was not significantly different except during October and September. Such a difference between male and female in different months could be originated from longer residing of female group in spawning ground compared to male group. The previous spawning lasted during September –October, and there was a peak of spawning in feeding in August. The lowest fat proportion for both male and female genders was reported 0.10 and 0.11 respectively in October; but the highest level of condition factor was reported to be 0.59 and 0.63 during November and June.

Case study on a deep excavation in soft ground by centrifuge model tests

This paper provides a case study on the deepest excavation carried out so far in the construction of the metro network in Shanghai, which typically features soft ground. The excavation is 38 m deep with retaining walls 65 m deep braced by 9 levels of concrete props. To obtain a quick and rough prediction, two centrifuge model tests were conducted, in which one is for the 'standard' section with green field surrounding and the other with an adjacent piled building. The tests were carried out in a run-stop-excavation-run style, in which excavation was conducted manually. By analyzing the lateral wall displacement, ground deformation, bending moment and earth pressure, the test results are shown to be reasonably convincing and the design and construction were validated. Such industry orientated centrifuge modeling was shown to be useful in understanding the performance of geotechnical processes, especially when engineers lack relevant field experience. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Centrifuge modelling on long-term behaviour of tunnels in transitional ground

Long-term settlement of tunnels has caused concerns about its influence on tunnel safety and serviceability. Aiming to investigate the long-term behaviour of tunnels against the background of Shanghai metro line, two cases of centrifuge modelling were conducted, with efforts to expose the mechanism affecting the consolidation of the ground. Evenly layered ground and transitional ground strata were set for each case separately and the settlement, lining load and pore water pressure were checked against elapsed time up to 20 years. The results verified some previous findings concerning the settlement and lining load development trend, however, it was also shown that the transitional ground made the tunnel response more complicated. The research is expected to provide some basis for further research on other affecting factors, such as lining permeability. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Control of lunar and martian dust - Experimental insights from artificial and natural cyanobacterial and algal crusts in the desert of Inner Mongolia, China

Studies on the colonization of environmentally extreme ground surfaces were conducted in a Mars-like desert area of Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, with microalgae and cyanobacteria. We collected and mass-cultured cyanobacterial strains from these regions and investigated their ability to form desert crusts artificially. These crusts had the capacity to resist sand wind erosion after just 15 days of growth. Similar to the surface of some Chinese deserts, the surface of Mars is characterized by a layer of fine dust, which will challenge future human exploration activities, particularly in confined spaces that will include greenhouses and habitats. We discuss the use of such crusts for the local control of desert sands in enclosed spaces on Mars. These experiments suggest innovative new directions in the applied use of microbe-mineral interactions to advance the human exploration and settlement of space.

A role of monitoring to reduce the uncertainty in the performance of pile foundations

In typical conventional foundation design, the inherent variability of soil properties, model uncertainty and construction variability are not modeled explicitly. A main drawback of this is that the effect of each variability on the probability of an unfavorable event cannot be evaluated quantitatively. In this paper, a method to evaluate the uncertainty-reduction effect on the performance of a vertically-loaded pile foundation by monitoring the pile performance (such as pile load testing or placing sensors in piles) is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is examined based on the investigation of a 120-pile foundation placed on three different ground profiles. The computed results show the capability of evaluating the uncertainty-reduction effect on the performance of a pile foundation by monitoring. © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Quantum phase transitions in the S=1/2 distorted diamond chain

By means of the second derivative of the ground-state and first-excited energy, the quantum phase transitions (QPTs) for the distorted diamond chain (DDC) with ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic frustrated interactions and the trimerized case are investigated, respectively. Our results show the plentiful quantum phases owing to the spin interaction competitions in the model. Meanwhile, by using the transfer-matrix renormalization-group technique, we study the two-site thermal entanglement of the DDC model in the thermodynamic limit for a further understanding of the QPTs.

Classical two-site fidelity and quantum phase transitions in the Ising model and the extended Hubbard model

In this Letter, the classical two-site-ground-state fidelity (CTGF) is exploited to identify quantum phase transitions (QPTs) for the transverse field Ising model (TFIM) and the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model (EHM). Our results show that the CTGF exhibits an abrupt change around the regions of criticality and can be used to identify QPTs in spin and fermionic systems. The method is especially convenient when it is connected with the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.